Advertisements are increasingly being displayed to viewers concurrently with a primary content (e.g., a television show, video clip, etc.). Often this takes the form of the advertisement being displayed in a fixed area of the display window, such as at the bottom of the window, and at a fixed time. The inflexibility, however, may often result in a suboptimal advertisement or viewing experience. For example, the advertisement may cover important aspects of the primary content, which may annoy viewers, or it may be displayed during an inopportune time, resulting in viewers paying little attention to the advertisement. Thus, in order to improve the effectiveness of advertisements, a more flexible approach to controlling an advertisement's placement and timing is needed.